From afar, the forest echoed with growls, and the trees and ground began to tremble. Kevin could see a massive black figure charging through the forest, knocking down the ancient, gnarled trees as if they were nothing, their trunks snapping under the impact of its enormous body, heading straight for Kevin.
"Shit!" Kevin was startled and without a second thought, he cast a [Gale Rush Spell] on himself and fled towards the cave.
But the figure behind him was incredibly fast, even faster than Kevin with the Gale Rush Spell, and the distance between them was closing rapidly.
"I knew it was after me!" Kevin gritted his teeth and ran with all his might.
If he had gone a hundred meters further just now, he would have been caught off guard by the creature's sudden attack and likely wouldn't have been able to escape.
But the situation was still extremely dangerous.
The figure behind him was getting closer, the distance that had been a hundred meters or so was quickly reduced to dozens of meters, and Kevin could see the ferocious, bloodied maw when he looked back.
Raging Bear Beast!
A fully grown Raging Bear Beast!
A fully grown Raging Bear Beast is a fifth-tier creature!
A fifth-tier Raging Bear Beast is comparable to a seventh-tier being; if Kevin were caught, it would essentially be a death sentence!
At this speed, he would surely be caught within a minute!
Kevin was frantic, his mind racing.
"[Iron Chain Lash]!" With a wave of his hand, a magical array appeared behind him, and from it emerged chains that wrapped around the nearby tree trunks, forming a barrier.
"If you can, be flawless!" Kevin shouted over his shoulder.
Bella: "..."
At a time like this, are you still joking?!
However, the third-tier [Iron Chain Lash] hardly had any effect. The Raging Bear Beast merely charged, and the chains snapped, not even slowing it down!
Kevin gritted his teeth.
If one wasn't enough, then ten would have to do!
"Tenfold——[Iron Chain Lash]!"
Instantly, the path he had taken was covered with chains.
"Roar!"
This time, it worked. The Raging Bear Beast swiped its paw, breaking both the chains and the tree trunks, but it also paused for a few seconds.
Those few seconds allowed Kevin to dash dozens of meters away!
Moments later, the Raging Bear Beast caught up again!
"Has Catherine's magical fluctuation not worked?" Kevin exclaimed.
Bella said, "You killed its child; it won't let you go easily. Moreover, a Raging Bear Beast in a Frenzy state has increased resistance to fear, so Catherine's magical fluctuation has much less effect on it. You probably need to run within three kilometers of Catherine for it to stop."
"Three kilometers…" Kevin frowned.
At this point, he had already been chased for over two kilometers, with more than five kilometers left to the cave, another two kilometers to go.
With this trend, it was possible!
Kevin didn't speak anymore, releasing obstructions as he ran.
What tenfold [Iron Chain Lash].
What tenfold [Earth Staircase].
What tenfold [Quagmire Swamp].
He cast whatever could delay the longest, and the Raging Bear Beast, with each of his obstructions, almost caught up to Kevin, only to be delayed again and again, allowing him to create distance.
In this way, Kevin managed to hold off the Raging Bear Beast with his non-cooldown magic and rapid mana recovery.
Indeed, as Bella had said, once within the range of three miles, the Raging Bear Beast slowed down, its roars less frequent and filled with trepidation.
Finally, after chasing for a few hundred more meters, the Raging Bear Beast stopped, let out a roar of unwilling anger towards Kevin, and then turned and ran away.
Seeing this, Kevin breathed a sigh of relief.
As long as Catherine's magical fluctuation was still effective, magical beasts wouldn't dare approach within a few kilometers.
After this incident, Kevin lost his appetite for monster hunting and leveling up. He returned to the cave and began to cultivate.
Eating, training, eating, training, with breaks in between to take care of physiological needs and to pet Gurgle, Kevin spent the next two days in this cycle.
Because Kevin wasn't sure if the Raging Bear Beast was still around, he feared being caught off guard if he went out again. After all, he couldn't always escape, and if the Raging Bear Beast had learned its lesson and hid deeper in the grass, he might not even know how he died.
Two days had passed, and Catherine still hadn't woken up. If it weren't for her steady and deep breathing, Kevin would have thought Catherine was dead.
"Does she really not need to urinate?" Kevin sat cross-legged next to Catherine and couldn't help but ask.
Bella covered her face, somewhat speechless: "I say, is your focus a bit strange? Others are concerned about whether she's good-looking or has a great figure, but you're worried about whether she needs to urinate?"
"Yes, isn't that what should be concerned about?" Kevin blinked and said, "Whether she's good-looking or has a great figure doesn't affect her much, but if she's urgent to urinate, her bladder might burst, and she might get bladder cancer, which can be fatal!"
Bella: "..."
She didn't know what to say anymore.
A Saint-level with dual cultivation in magic and martial arts, with an extremely strong physique, almost immune to diseases and ailments, and bladder cancer?
"By the way, Bella, do you feel... getting hotter?" Suddenly, Kevin fanned himself and asked.
"A bit, but it doesn't affect me. Even if I were in a volcanic hell, I'd be fine," Bella said.
"But it does affect me," Kevin said, "I woke up this morning covered in sweat, sticky and uncomfortable. I don't know if the weather has warmed up."
Bella said, "Impossible, it's the beginning of winter now. The temperature in the Forest of Beasts will only drop, not rise."
"Is that so?" Kevin said, then got up and went outside the cave, and indeed found it much cooler.
So it's just getting hotter inside the cave?
But what's the source of the heat?
You know, the cave's entrance is huge, and Kevin also controls the fire to maintain ventilation to prevent carbon monoxide poisoning, and there's no accumulation of carbon dioxide, so the reason for the warming shouldn't come from the fire.
So... is it Catherine?
Kevin looked at Catherine, reached out and touched her forehead, and immediately retracted his hand as if he had been electrocuted.
"Damn, it's hot!" Kevin sucked his finger.
This is not an exaggeration, people with a fever at most 104 degrees Fahrenheit, but this Catherine, it must be over 160 degrees Fahrenheit, right?
It's astonishingly hot!
It's not normal, very abnormal!